California education test scores are in. Here’s how some Modesto-area schools fared
As California schools strive to improve state test performance that fell during the remote learning of the COVID-19 pandemic, scores released this week show a slight decline in English but small gains in math. In Modesto, high school students improved in both areas compared to test results last year.
Modesto City Schools actually is two districts: one K-8 and the other 9-12. In the high school district, about 45% of students met or exceeded the state standard in English. In math, more than 17% of students met or exceeded the state standard. Both increased by one to two percentage points compared to last year.
“We are encouraged that our scores in the high school district in English Language Arts exceed the county and are in line with the state average,” said Sara Noguchi, the superintendent of Modesto City Schools. “We are equally encouraged that we grew more than the state average and anticipate greater growth in the coming year as we continue to collectively focus on supporting our instructional programs.”
Noguchi said MCS administrators are encouraged by math programming with a focus on increasing and accelerating student achievement. The programming includes a co-teaching model for all high schools in algebra.
As for MCS’ elementary schools, just a tad over 27% of students met or exceeded the state standard in English. In math, a little more than 19% of students met or exceeded the state standard. English scores for elementary schools are slightly lower from the previous years, while math remains the same.
“To ensure our students meet academic expectations, all teachers are increasing their academic expectations by focusing on the rigor of the grade-level standards, and engaging students in critical thinking,” Noguchi said.
She said the district is focusing on teacher’s professional development as research shows that the classroom teacher has the greatest influence on students’ academic achievement.
In Modesto high schools, the test scores of Black, Hispanic and economically disadvantaged students continue to lag in both English and math. Around 87% of Black students and 88% of Hispanic students did not meet the state standard for math. For English, 68% of Black students and 60% of Hispanic students did not meet the state standard.
Looking at all grade levels, Noguchi said the student achievement for Black and Latino students parallels the level of achievement at the county and state levels.
Statewide, around 70% of Black students and 64% of Latino students did not meet standard for English and 83% of Black students and 77% of Latino students did not meet the standard for math.
“Seeing only slight improvements in already alarmingly low levels of student achievement is cause for concern, not celebration,” said Dr. Christopher J. Nellum the executive director of the Education Trust–West in his statement about the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) test score results. “Perhaps even more troubling, scores on English Language Arts assessments remained essentially flat or dropped for Black, Latinx and Native American students.
In Turlock Unified School District, both English and math scores slightly lowered.
Nearly 39% of students met or exceeded the state standard in English in Turlock’s school district, while in math, 25% of students met or exceeded the state standard.
This story was originally published October 19, 2023 at 3:25 PM.
